OpenAI says GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna will launch publicly on Thursday

OpenAI said GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna are set for a public launch on Thursday after the U.S. Department of Commerce granted broader clearance for the model family, removing a key regulatory hurdle ahead of a wider rollout. Axios reported the approval followed a review by the Commerce Department’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation under a voluntary agreement signed by President Donald Trump that allows regulators up to 30 days to assess advanced AI systems before public deployment. OpenAI stationed a technical team in Washington during the review, and the company is preparing Sol as its flagship model, Terra as a balanced option and Luna as a faster, lower-cost version. The decision clears a major uncertainty around the release and shifts investor focus toward OpenAI’s pre-IPO perpetual futures, including OPENAI-PERP contracts on Coinbase and Binance. Coinbase introduced OPENAI-PERP in June through its Everything Exchange initiative, giving eligible non-U.S. users exposure to OpenAI’s private-market valuation through perpetual futures settled in USDC that are designed to convert automatically if OpenAI eventually lists its shares publicly. Coinbase has warned that the eventual IPO price could still be as much as 25% above or below the futures price at listing. Industry data cited by CryptoQuant shows trading volume across pre-IPO crypto products rose to $12 billion in June 2026 from $2 million in March, highlighting fast-growing interest in markets tied to private companies. Recent developments have added to that attention: SoftBank Group completed a second $10 billion investment earlier this month as part of its previously announced $30 billion follow-on commitment, and chief executive Sam Altman last month introduced Jalapeño, OpenAI’s first custom AI chip developed with Broadcom for inference workloads used in products including ChatGPT and Codex.